Islamic Modern: Religious Courts and Cultural Politics in Malaysia
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"This engagingly written study illuminates the workings of Islamic courts and the politics and meanings of Muslim identity in one of Asia's most important 'new tigers.' While elucidating the dynamics of Muslim families and family law, Peletz provides dazzling insights into Malay-Muslim subjectivities and notions of gender, sexuality, and modernity. The result is an intellectual tour de force that should be read by anyone and everyone interested in Islam, democracy, civil society, and the thorny question of just what, in political and sexual terms, it means to be modern."--Robert W. Hefner, author of Civil Islam"With one out of five people in the world subject to Islamic law this important study of the Malaysian variant is a genuine milestone in our understanding of Muslim law and society. It challenges our appreciation of the power relations between men and women and of the politics of law in building a modern state. This is law not on the books but in daily life. The insights afforded here are central to the broader role Islamic law is playing in the lives of the whole world."--Lawrence Rosen, Princeton University"This is at once Michael Peletz's most sophisticated and most ambitious book. He is concerned with at least three huge projects: the Islamic resurgence, the Islamic legal system, and cultural politics. This is an evocative, often brilliant book that shows how cosmopolitan politics engineered from Kuala Lumpur have produced a contradictory notion of Asian values that poses an opaque but imminent danger."--Bruce Lawrence, author of Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence"Based on impressive fieldwork and archival research, this is the first full-length treatment of Islamic courts in contemporary Malaysia. It makes the important point that, far from being antiquated and out of touch, Islamic courts are helping to make a 'modern' Malaysia."--James Piscatori, coeditor of Muslim Politics C.W. Watson - Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute [Peletz's] evidence is vividly presented. Consequently, this will be a valuable book for cross-cultural comparison for the contribution it makes both to legal anthropology and to understanding the articulation of Islamic values in contemporary settings.
List of MapsList of TablesForewordAcknowledgmentsNote on Spelling, Terminology, and CurrencyIntroduction1Pt. 1The Culture, Political Economy, and History of the Islamic Courts23Ch. 1Locating Islamic Magistrates and Their Courts in History25Ch. 2The Work of the Courts64Ch. 3Litigant Strategies and Patterns of Resistance128Pt. 2Modernity and Governmentality in Islamic Courts and Other Domains193Ch. 4Reinscribing Authenticity and Identity195Ch. 5Producing Good Subjects, "Asian Values," and New Types of Criminality239Conclusion: Islam, Modernity, and Civil Society277Notes291Glossary of Frequently Used Malay Terms305Bibliography307Index327
